Abstract
Edward Said, in Culture and Imperialism, asserts that Jane Austen's Mansfield Park is an instrument of imperialism because of its emphasis on home at the expense of other worlds. Citing Austen's fleeting reference to the slave trade, as well as Sir Thomas Bertram's financial dependence on his property in Antigua to support his family in Britain, Said suggests that Austen aids and abets the imperialist agenda. This project attempts to illustrate, however, that the previous criticism of Austen's novel has not fully considered the complete context of the novel before coming to conclusions about what the references to slavery indicate. It is clear by considering the historical context in which Austen wrote the novel, Austen's biographical context, and the textual evidence in both her novel and her letters, that Austen's references to patriarchy and slavery actually show her subversion to imperialist ideas. Furthermore. this study argues that Austen explores the idea of Evangelicalism in Mansfield Park as a way of resisting the imperial mindset of her day.